Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoGARY COLEMAN | RENO (NEV.) GAZETTE-JOURNALTop story: Scott Oxarart, a reporter and outdoor writer for the Reno Gazette-Journal in Nevada, poses with a mule deer he shot at Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, along the Nevada-Oregon line during his first deer hunt.

Another signal that the deer gun season is fast approaching was the announcement late last week
about extended hours for the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s hunting information hotline.

The division is anticipating last-minute questions from hunters, including those regarding
revisions in rules about tagging and county bag limits. Rather than try to decipher written
regulations, hunters can phone 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543) to get an answer from someone in the
know.

While the hotline number generally is accessible from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, extended hours
will be in effect starting with the youth gun season next weekend, as well as before and during the
statewide gun season.

The call center will be manned from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, next Sunday and Nov. 30 through
Dec. 8. The call line will not operate on Thanksgiving Day.

Shot down

Guns & Ammo editor Jim Bequette and gun writer Dick Metcalf have apologized and
announced that they are leaving the magazine after the recent publication of a column Metcalf wrote
about the Second Amendment and gun rights.

Readers expressed outrage stemming from Metcalf’s attempt to make a nuanced argument about the
desirability and legality of gun control.

Many readers disagreed that Metcalf’s observation can be applied to the Second Amendment.

Parting shots

Citing their increasing use, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is mulling limits on the
use of camera-equipped drones by hunters to spot game animals from the air. “We want to
make sure people understand it is still outside the bounds of what is allowed,” Randy Hampton, a
commission spokesman, told the Associated Press. … It remains to be seen how much more info will be
forthcoming, but two photos of a 37-point buck reportedly taken in Licking County arrived in the
email in-box last week. … Deer hunters in Ohio have through Dec. 1 to buy and use an antlerless
permit.